10 Most Dramatic Late Winners In Domestic English Football

Back in the dim and distant past that was 1999, Manchester City were still the downtrodden noisy neighbours languishing in the third tier of English football. The club’s fans had stuck by them despite their descent into the second division however, and turned up en-masse to see them take on Tony Pulis’ Gillingham in the 98/99 play-off final at Wembley.

For a lot of City fans, the phrase “typical city” is one that they often use to highlight the spectacular times the club has shot itself in the foot or made things needlessly difficult for themselves. It looked like the curse of “typical city” had therefore struck yet again when, despite being the overwhelming favourites and the game being tied at 0-0 with 80 minutes gone, they then found themselves 2 down with 87 minutes played.

The game appeared dead and buried, but as is so often the case in the play offs, late drama awaited. Kevin Horlock pulled a goal back for the blues on 90 minutes, and then in the fifth minute of injury time, City launched one final attack. Eventually after some distinctly un-Pulis like defending from the Gills, the ball found its way to City striker Paul Dickov who created the proverbial half-a-yard of space inside the Gillingham penalty area, opened up his body, and rifled it into the back of the net.

From that point on the result was a foregone conclusion and while the game ended up being decided thanks to penalties and the heroics of City’s goalkeeper Nicky Weaver, it was Dickov’s goal which swung the momentum in City's favour. It also provided yet another timely reminder that if you leave a big game before the 90th minute, you may well come to regret it.